


Detectives & Dragons

by Fiachra



Series: Detectives & Dragons [1]
Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Crack Treated Seriously, Dragons, Drama, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Gen, Humor, I can and I will add dragons to anything, M/M, Magical Realism, Supernatural Elements, Supernatural Shenanigans, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-09-21 09:43:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17041379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiachra/pseuds/Fiachra
Summary: Jake Peralta is a dragon. A real life, super awesome dragon. With wings and scales and fire and everything. But a secret like that can't be kept from Brooklyn's finest for long.But Jake and the squad will soon discover that the fantastical side of their city has a dark underbelly, one that will have consequences for them all.





	1. In which Holt is definitely not surprised and fire-related puns are made

**Author's Note:**

> This story might not have been possible were it not for my two very good friends: piratearrowxab and willowbilly who listened to me ramble about this random little idea I had and were there to bounce ideas off and also gave me some amazing ideas and dialogue. Thank you guys, you rock <3 <3
> 
> This is set sometime after E4S3, "The Oolong Slayer".

  


What was the point, Jake thought, of being a magical creature if magic didn’t always obey you?

It was, after all, slightly more satisfying to blame your current predicament on the laws of the metaphysical world when the alternative is admitting that you yourself are the orchestrator of your predicament. Especially when the issue at hand wouldn’t be an issue in the first place if Jake wasn’t so goddamn stubborn over it. But admitting mistakes to oneself was hard, and for something like this was even harder.

Jake is a dragon. An honest to goodness, very real, very awesome dragon. Which had its own perks, and its own pitfalls. And unfortunately, the pitfalls were not very conducive to living a normal, _one hundred percent human thank you very much_ existence. And especially not the one rather awkward side effect that was currently resulting in his feeling like he’d very much like to crawl out of his skin.

He fidgeted throughout the day, ignoring Amy’s looks of concern and trying to avoid spending any time alone with Gina, who would just pity or berate him, which he didn’t need right now. Not when his crawling skin and increasing discomfort in his body (his _real_ body dammit) was punishment enough.

Jake was about ready to leap from his chair and dash for home when the end of his shift rolled around, but in keeping with the shitty theme of today, Holt emerged from his office and made a beeline for his desk.

“Peralta, that drug dealer of the case we’ve been working on has been sighted not too far away. We need to go now.”

“Oh, really? Can’t anyone else go? Just because I have this thing and-“

Holt stared at him. “No, Peralta. Meet me in the parking lot in five minutes.”

Jake scuttled after him before Amy could ask why he was making excuses to not go on a case.

He should really have kicked up more of a fuss, he thought as he tried not to scratch his itchy shoulder blades against the car upholstery as they sped to the scene. But he had been working this case for a while, and he was trying to get back into Holt’s good books after what had been ominously dubbed “The Department-Issued Drone Incident”. Thankfully, Holt didn’t try to ask him if anything was wrong during the drive, instead merely rolling his eyes when Jake threw out jokes whenever the _tightness_ got too much to bear. He thought, yet again, of how he really should have dealt with his scaly little problem before this.

The light was fading as they set up shop on a roof looking out over the truly lovely setting of several dilapidated buildings and filthy alleyways, and Jake found himself cursing whoever had said this shouldn’t take too long as the wait started to drag out interminably, made all the worse by the nausea building in his stomach.

“Are you feeling alright Peralta?”

“Oh yeah, never been better.”

“You’ve been fidgeting since we got here, you’re pale and your hand keeps going to your lower abdomen. Are you sick?”

“Nah,” Jake said, trying to plaster on a smile as his insides gave an uncomfortable twist, “never better.”

Holt didn’t look convinced (well, at least that was the vibe Jake got from him).

“If you are sick you could have said so, I wouldn’t have been angry.”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I did.” Jake muttered, which Holt didn’t acknowledge as he answered his phone, and tried to focus on the complete absence of their main suspect as sweat began to trickle slowly down his back. His skin felt hot and tight, as if he’d been shrink-wrapped. His conviction that he could hold off on this until he was safely at home now seemed laughably stupid as his body gave the faintest of tremors.

This was _fine_. Just _perfect_.

“Our back up on the ground is going to be a while,” Holt said after hanging up. “What did you say?”

Jake was about to throw out some meaningless lie, but whatever he was going to say was drowned out in a groan as he shuddered, his whole body trying to shake off the shape he loved so much, the shape that at the same time was almost squeezing the life out of him.

“Peralta? Are you alright?”

“I’m good, everything’s perfect, I’m- _arghh!_ ”

He slipped off the travel stool they’d brought, falling to his knees. This was happening, he couldn’t stop it now. _There’s goes my streak of no-one finding out_ , he thought bitterly as a wave of pain hit him, as if his heritage was punishing him for being so disrespectful. He curled into a ball attempting to alleviate the constriction of his skin. He was, quite literally, bursting at the seams.

Holt had dropped to his knees before him, stretching out his hand to rest it on Jake’s shoulder, only to recoil at the waves of heat radiating from Jake’s skin.

“What’s going on? I’m going to call an ambulance.”

“NO!”

Jake surprised himself at that outburst, and from the way Holt jumped he’d heard the snarl in his voice. Jake swallowed, hard.

“No, no ambulance. This is, _ahh_ , this is fine.”

He met Holt’s eyes, watching as he recoiled a little. If it was at the stage where Holt’s hindbrain could recognise the predator in front of him, they were well past the point of no return. This wasn’t fair. He never wanted to scare Holt.

“Just, move back, please? Remember-“ he hissed in discomfort “that I’m still me.”

Holt scrambled back, Jake strangling a yell as he arched his back as the change ripped through him. It was over in seconds, and he slumped against the blissfully cool roof, panting. The relief it brought was glorious, but he hated the fact that it was. He sat up a little, stretching his wings and groaning in relief at how good it felt. Immediate problem over, he looked over at Holt.

Who was now processing the fact that the seemingly human detective he knew was instead a dragon.

“Surprise?” said Jake weakly.

  


***

If you had told Raymond Holt this is how his evening was going to go, he would not have believed it.

He was, after all, looking at the impossible creature which had replaced Jake. No, that _was_ Jake. He had been under the impression that they did not exist outside of storybooks, and as far as he was aware, did not have a habit of spending time as a rather childish and exuberant human.

But both those statements were evidently true, and even if it hadn’t just spoken this creature was exhibiting a nervous look he had only ever seen on one other face, and then only when the owner of said face had done something particularly preposterous. Which this situation did fit, to be fair.

It was about now that Raymond realised he had not said a word yet, and Jake seemed to be waiting on one.

He must decide on a word expressing just the right amount of emotion, but nothing so gauche and extreme as hyperbole. He isn’t _shocked_ , by any means, after all. Startled, perhaps. Surprised… yes. Surprised. There we go. Succinct, accurate, suitable for the occasion. Raymond is surprised.

Possibly he would go so far as to utter an “Oh my.”

Which he does, and Jake blinks.

“I thought you’d be more shocked.” He said in confusion.

“This is certainly surprising,” Holt said, in a tone so casual he may have been describing the weather “I am assuming that this is your natural state, and you appear as you usually do in order to lead a somewhat normal life?”

Jake’s jaw dropped, revealing small but no doubt razor-sharp teeth.

“Yes, how-“

“My powers of observation are still fully functional Peralta. Was this the cause for your ill-health?”

“Yeah, it can be tough to remain in my human form for too long, sometimes I have to let it go, and I haven’t in a while.”

Going by the appalling way Jake took care of himself on a daily basis, Raymond did not find this particularly surprising. He got to his feet and took in Jake’s appearance properly.

He was impressive, in his humble opinion. Jake’s scales were silvery grey, with mossy green shot through them. He wasn’t enormously big, Raymond thought, about six metres long if he estimated correctly and not that much taller than him. Two white horns swept back from the back of his skull and a pair of ears twitched underneath them. Jake’s eyes, the same shade of brown they always were, were set in an elongated face that was much more expressive, and much more quintessentially Jake than he’d have expected.

“May I?”

Holt extended one hand and patted Jake’s shoulder at his nod of acceptance. His scales were softer than expected, and the green tint pulsed a nervous yellow briefly. The muscles underneath Holt’s hand rippled.

“You’re not scared?”

Holt shook his head. “No, Jacob.”

“But,” Jake looked down at himself, tapped his talons nervously on the roof. “I’m not, I’m not human.” He hated that his voice wobbled on that last bit.

“Jake, would you really expect me to ostracise someone because of a natural difference outside of their control? You know who I am, and I know who you are. The scales and wings make no difference.”

Jake sniffed, and blinked what looked suspiciously like tears out of his eyes. His scales flushed violet.

“Thank you.”

Then he gulped and blurted out, “I’malsobisexual. I’m. I’m a bisexual dragon, person. Also. I mean, a dragon who is also bi. Thought I’d mention it since, you know, we’re having a heartfelt coming out moment, or whatever.”

“I see.” Holt deadpanned. “A flaming bisexual?”

It was so unexpected, and the absurdity of the situation made Jake snort with laughter. And to his endless surprise, Holt laughed too.

It was fine. It was going to be fine.

A car door slammed, and Jake’s head whipped around to the street below. A man in a dark hoody looked around, then started to sneak down the road, trying to stick to the shadows.

“That’s our guy.”

“We won’t get down there in time, and there’s been no update from back up, he’ll disappear again.” Holt growled in frustration.

“Or will he?” Jake grinned toothily. “Start heading down. I’ll get him.”

Just as Holt was preparing to launch into a _“Are you sure that’s wise Peralta?”_ speech Jake stepped on to the roof’s ledge, keeping his body low. His scales darkened, and he pounced.

It was, if he said so himself, very nicely done. Their suspect didn’t even look up until he heard the whoosh of Jake’s wings directly overhead. Jake pinned him to the ground like an oversized owl with an oversized mouse before he could do more than stare in astonishment.

“Did you see that? Did you Captain? Did you see it?” Jake crowed as Holt reappeared at his side, panting.

“Yes, I did. Well done Peralta.”

Jake beamed as the man beneath his paw gaped.

“How, what-“

“It’s time you flamed out, _punk_ ” Jake said with a grin directed at his captain and appropriate gusto, then flinched when he heard a car approaching.

“That’ll be back up, what are you going to do?” Holt said.

“I got this,” Jake grimaced as he squashed himself back into his human form, his dragon instincts upset at this development.

Neither Holt nor Jake noticed their perp watching this with interest.

Raymond looked at Jake as they went to meet their colleagues, noticing the stiffness in his movements, as if he’d been stitched into a too-tight suit, and the flashes of pain on his face with every other step.

“I’ll get you to do the paperwork tomorrow,” he said as they walked back to their car, once their perp was safely on his way to the precinct with the backup team, “you still don’t look well.”

“Ah I’ll be fine, just need to let it out again at home. Thank you though.”

They didn’t speak for a little while after that, until they stopped at a set of traffic lights. 

“Are you going to tell the squad?” Raymond asked.

For a moment, he didn’t think Jake would answer.

“I don’t know,” he said in the most uncertain tone Raymond had ever heard his detective use. “I want to, but I’m scared, I guess.” Suddenly he looked fearful. “You won’t tell, will you?”

“No, of course not.”

Jake exhaled shakily. “Okay, coolcoolcool.” They returned to silence (which was unusual for a trip with Peralta in tow) and Jake looked out the window at the passing city staples with more intent than usual.

“It’s not up to me,” Raymond said, breaking the silence, “but I think if you were to tell the squad they would not treat you differently. I don’t think you have to fear them.”

Jake smiled at him as he stopped the car at Jake’s building. It was a genuine smile, one with rare honesty.

“Thanks Captain, and thanks for not freaking out.”

Holt gave him a rare smile of his own. “It was my privilege.”

After an enthusiastic “Byeee!” as his detective hopped out of the car, Raymond checked his mirrors, indicated out and assimilated into the night-time traffic, almost immediately encountering another red light. He tapped the wheel three times, then laughed into the empty car.

“Dragons. How unexpected.”

  
  


***

Back in the precinct, their perp, called John, got his one phone call. It was brief.

“Put him on the phone for me. Yes, this is important! He’ll want to know. Now listen, I have to be quick. I’ve been arrested, but you won’t be mad once you hear this.

One of the cops is a Silver Hide.”

  



	2. An Unexpected Coming Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake tries to figure how best to tell Amy he's not human, but sometimes the best plan is to have no plan at all.

  
Jake needn’t have worried about Holt.

In true Holt fashion, he still chided Jake over his sloppy paperwork and the state of his desk in the week after their rooftop chat. The highly specific and convoluted joke he made at Jake’s expense that requires skimming the Wikipedia article for _Beowulf_ and actually reading several chapters of _The Silmarillion_ is still in character after all.

Gina, after hearing what happened, is only disappointed she missed it, but makes up for it by creating a new text chain for the three of them where Jake’s name is now Puff and a dragon head emoji.

In true Jake fashion, he agonises over how to tell Amy. They’re dating, so she'll probably find out _somehow_ , and if Holt was cool with it-

In true Jake fashion, his half-formed plans go out the window when he blurts it out when they’re cosied up on the couch in pyjamas watching _The Hobbit_ at Amy’s.

“Pssh, dragons don’t actually have mountains of gold like that.”

“And you’d know?” Amy laughs and then stops when she realises Jake has stiffened in her arms, still as stone. “Babe?”

Jake pauses the movie and swivels on the couch so he’s facing her.

“Did you ever have a secret, one you had to be careful of who you told?” he asks, clutching her hands and rubbing her thumbs in a way that’s more calming to him than it is to her.

“Like when you told me you’re bi?”

“Yeah, but, this is something, a little bigger than that.

Amy, I’m just gonna come right out and say it: you know all the stuff in the fantasy books you like?”

She nodded.

“It’s all real. Except Hogwarts, sorry if you got excited there but I don’t want you getting too excited, but a lot of the other stuff, it’s true. Well, mostly.”

She isn’t laughing, but she doesn’t look convinced either.

“Jake, the Halloween Heist and April Fools’ are a while away.”

Jake nods a few times. “Yeah, I know, but this has nothing to do with that. It’s true, and some of those people you read about, well, they wouldn’t get by unless they looked like everyone else. So. I’m. I’m a dragon, Ames.

Amy looks more puzzled, like she’s waiting for a punchline that she’s not entirely sure exists.

“What do you mean?” She says slowly and carefully. Like he’s a crazy civilian she’s giving the benefit of the doubt to. For now. Jake can’t really blame her.

“I’ll show you.” He steps off the couch and backs away from her, takes a deep breath and hopes to God his heart doesn’t burst out of his chest. Jake wills the change forward, feels his body lengthen and stretch and all the little aches that go with it.

Amy stares. And stares. And when he thinks _she must blink at some point right?_ she just keeps staring.

“You, you weren’t, this is-“

“I’m still me Ames, this is just, well, _me_.”

_The real me._

Amy made an unintelligible noise that she would have been disgusted with herself for in normal circumstances, then swallowed and whispered, “But how?”

Jake shrugged as much as his draconian shoulders would allow.

“Magic. I’ve always been like this, I was born this way, like Gaga.”

She doesn’t laugh, or even smile. Instead, she sits there, frozen, and just when Jake thinks how this was all a horrible mistake and maybe he should just jump out the window, secrecy be damned, she stands up, pinches her arm and crosses the room to him on somewhat shaky legs. She lifts a trembling hand and Jake lowers his head, closing his eyes as she runs her hand up his snout and down his face. She moves to his neck and brushes her fingers along the crest that runs downs his spine.

“This is all really happening.” She breathes.

“Yep. It’s all super-duper real.”

Then, in a move Jake would not have predicted in a million years, a huge smile breaks across her face and she punches the air, whooping as she spins on her carpet in a victory dance.

“I _knew_ it!”

“Wait, _what?_ ” The emotional whiplash Jake was experiencing was excruciating. He could almost feel the tinge of his scales cycling through colours as he struggled to decide what mood he should be in.

“I _knew_ there was something more out there, I just knew it! I knew I didn’t hallucinate the pixies that passed through our garden one day, Tony said I did and he can go _suck it!_ ”

“So, just to clarify, you’re not freaking out?” Jake said in amazement, unable to quite believe his luck.

Amy smiled at him, and damn near _pranced_ back to him to place a kiss on the end of his nose.

“Jake Peralta, I think you are amazing, whatever you look like.”

Jake was _not_ going to cry. He was _not_. He changed back and grabbed her around the waist, swinging her in a circle, laugh-crying in relief before burrowing his face in his neck.

“I love you. I realise now that’s the first time we’ve said it but I love you.”

Amy pulled back to beam at him, and his heart felt like it was going to melt. “I love you too.”

Then she frowned.

“Is this way you’re always so warm?”

“Yep, cool isn’t it?”

A smile spread across Jake’s face as an idea occurred to him.

“Get dressed, I have an idea.”

  


***

  


Now in warm clothes and carrying a blanket, they emerged onto the roof. Jake shifted, shaking out his wings a little before curling up on a relatively comfy spot. Amy carefully laid down the blanket then snuggled up against his side, smiling up at the visible stars.

“I’m going to have to make binders.” She said with more glee than Jake thought anyone had ever had at the realisation that their boyfriend wasn’t human.

“Will you tell me all about it? Do we know anyone else?”

“Of course,” Jake chuckled, the sound sending vibrations through Amy, “and you know your favourite barista? Who you say makes the best coffee in Brooklyn? She’s an elf.”

Amy’s face lit up like all her Christmases had come at once.

“No way! Do I know any other dragons?”

Jake thought about his suspicions regarding someone they _did_ know, then dismissed it.

“Nah, I don’t think so. Just my parents.”

“Does anyone else know?”

“That we know? Gina, if you hear her referencing the time when I was a “dumbass as a kid” that’s what she’s talking about, Rosa and Holt.”

“How did Rosa find out?” Amy asked.

“Well you see, I used my dragony powers to save her in a mugging and-“

“The _real_ story Jake.”

“We got super drunk.” He said, having the grace to look sheepish.

__

_They were in the academy, on one of their living room floors, past exam papers and scrawled notes surrounding them in a mess of epic proportions, as they giggled their way through a bottle of cheap wine as the clock ticked into yet another ungodly hour in the morning._

__

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_“What’s something you’ve never told anyone?” Jake had slurred._

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_Rosa snorted, tossed her head in a way that would have been elegantly disdainful if she hadn’t nearly keeled over._

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_“You’re not getting something out of me that easily.”_

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_“Fine, I’ll go first.” Jake sat up, gestured grandly. “I’m a dragon.”_

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_“Really?”_

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_He nodded, far too many times for someone who was quite drunk._

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_"Tight."_

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“I’m somehow not surprised.” Amy said.

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“Holt found out last week.” Jake said.

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“How’d he take it?”

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“He took it well, but at first he could have been really shocked but I couldn’t tell.”

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Amy laughed and snuggled into his side, where they stayed for a while until she checked her watch.

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“It’s late,” she said, patting his side. “We should get going.”

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Jake changed back and stretched, then stopped when he saw Amy looking thoughtfully at him.

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“What?”

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Amy stepped forward and gently rubbed the back of his neck. 

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“There was a crest here,” she said, awe creeping into her tone, smiling as Jake leaned into her touch. “And wings,” she added as she ran her hand down to touch his shoulder blade.

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“You really don’t mind?” Jake said in wonder.

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“No, of course not. Why are you smiling?”

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“Cause I’m so lucky.” He kissed her. “I should have told you earlier, but I was scared, I’m sorry.”

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Amy kissed his cheek, interlaced her fingers with his. “Jake, you don’t have to be sorry for that, I understand why you were scared.”

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Jake touched his forehead to hers. “You’re perfect.”

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Amy grinned cheekily. “I know,” she said as she pulled him towards the stairwell. “But now something more important: does anyone ever call you a flaming bisexual?”

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“Holt did when he found out.”

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The sight of his girlfriend nerding out about her mentor making the same joke as she did was easily one of, if not the best, thing that had happened that evening.

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Suddenly, the issues he had regarding his true form didn’t seem so heavy. He was his best self when he was with her, and that was all that mattered.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to know what you think!  
> Come yell at me on Tumblr: @consultingzoologist


	3. In Which Things Heat Up, and Charles and Terry Get High

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A case takes a turn away from the non-magical world, and everyone finally gets up to speed.

  


“So, just to clarify, you’ve gotten around the firewalls of over thirty secure computers and managed to destroy the hardware without any tools or help?”

The perp, a short man with clever eyes beamed. “Yep.”

“How?”

“That’s my little secret.”

Terry sighed heavily. “I need a break, and I’m going to check up on what Charles has found. Will you be okay here?”

“Sure, no problem.” Jake said. Terry spared the perp (by name of Sam, who’d been brought in on charges of stealing valuable information from computers) one more glare before the door shut behind him.

Jake was about to launch into questioning again when Sam said, “Could you reduce my sentence if I did something for you, dragon?”

Jake’s head snapped up. Sam grinned, somehow managing to show all his teeth.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on, fire-breath, there’s no need to play dumb with me. I know a dragon when I see one, even if they’re looking less scaly than usual.” Sam’s face grew sharper, ears and teeth pointed, as he leaned back haphazardly in his chair. The gremlin raised an eyebrow then let his glamour fall back into place.

Despite himself, Jake could feel the particular brand of case excitement build in his belly. The week had been dull, but now it had way more potential.

“What do you think I could possibly be that in interested in? Be quick about it.”

Sam leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner. “I’ve been seeing whispers on the ‘net,” he said in an exaggerated whisper, “and hearing of some dodgy deals floating around. I suspect a smuggling ring of some sort, but one geared towards _our_ kind, if you catch my drift.”

“What kind of deals?” Jake said, also leaning forward.

The gremlin sat back with a shrug. “Dunno. But something a bit more valuable than the usual crap. Something that you have to go to someone specialised.” For the first time Sam’s confident demeanour slipped. “I’ve a pretty bad feeling about it, if I’m being honest.”

“Can you show me what you’ve got?” Jake asked, ears straining for footsteps in the hall outside.

“I don’t have much, an address, some mutterings, that’s pretty much it.”

“You can give us the address though.”

“I suppose I can, provided I get something in return.”

Jake was about to answer when Terry walked in.

“What have I missed?”

Sam glanced at Jake, then back at Terry. “I was just telling Sparky here that I have something I think you’ll be interested in, possibly a smuggling ring.”

Terry’s look of confusion at the nickname moulded into interest. “What’s being smuggled?”

“Unusual goods I imagine, of the more fantastical kind.” Sam winked slyly at Jake. “Your gold-loving friend here seemed particularly interested.”

“Hey! That was uncalled for, gold isn’t my thing anyway.” Jake said in annoyance.

“C’mon man, not cool.” Terry said, shooting Jake a puzzled look. “But what information can you give us?”

  
  


***

  
  


_It would be nice,_ Jake thought as they stood shivering in the icy wind at the base of a dilapidated set of apartments, _if shady magic related happenings could happen somewhere warmer. And prettier._

“You have the address, right?” Charles said.

“Yup, it’s at the top, so we’ll go up, have a look around and see what we find.”

“Hopefully this won’t take too long, Sharon and I have planned date night.” Terry said.

“Onwards then!”

They didn’t speak much as they made their way to the top floor, the elevator wasn’t working (of course) so they had to trudge up several flights of creaky stairs that looked like they were growing their own ecosystem in places. Jake disguised his sniffs under his wheezes (which wasn’t hard) and tried to pick out anything stranger than mildew and humans.

He suddenly stopped, causing Charles to bump into him.

Jake inhaled in what he hoped was a discreet manner. For a moment he thought he had picked up something acrid, something that could be dangerous. 

“Thought I heard something, it’s nothing.”

They kept going and before long found themselves outside apartment number sixty-six.

Terry knocked and called out. An old man leaving another apartment down the hall looked at them suspiciously but otherwise there was nothing. Terry repeated his announcement, and with a shrug at Jake and Charles, kicked the door in.

They walked inside, torches held high, as they began to search. Unease was starting to build in Jake’s stomach, the acrid burnt smell coated the place in a sooty layer that only he was noticing. The place was sparsely decorated, with nothing that obviously spelt out the owner’s identity.

“Jake, Charles, I found something.”

Terry was in the apartment’s sole tiny bedroom. Jake made a face of disgust at the patch of black mould in the ceiling corner than looked at the bed.

He took a step back, feeling like he’d be sucker punched in the stomach.

On the bed was an assortment of horns and claws. To the uninitiated they looked like regular animal parts, but Jake knew better. Some looked draconian, some like the talons of an enormous eagle, all were originally from fabulous creatures. The horns didn’t look shed, and the claws still had the remnants of bone attached, as if someone had declawed an enormous cat.

It took him a second to realise Terry was speaking.

“Looks like this is what they’re smuggling anyway, we’ll have to call in someone who can identify them.”

Jake tried and failed to hold back a hysterical laugh. He felt sick. The implication of what he was looking at was horrifying.

“Jake?” Charles said, worry all over his face.

“They’re not, it’s – “

He stopped, swallowed. Tried again.

“I – “

Then he heard the hiss and pop a log makes when it catches fire. The same smell of ash and smoke that filled the apartment filled his nostrils as he turned to see a tiny woman with flame-red hair standing in the doorway.

“Is this your home ma’am?” Terry said. “If so we need to ask you some questions.”

She clenched her fists, air shimmering around them. “I’d rather you didn't.”

Terry frowned, and in the second before she raised her hands Jake threw himself at Terry and screamed, “Down!”

Terry dropped, and the fireball meant for his head splattered against the wall behind him. Only the dampness of the wall prevented it from immediately taking hold. Jake looked up at the woman, whose eyes were now molten yellow and whose hands were glowing like hot metal.

A fire imp.

An _extremely_ angry one.

Jake tackled her to the ground and yelled at Terry and Charles to run, only for the imp to vanish in a rain of sparks underneath him and rematerialise in front of his friends. Charles whipped his baton out and managed to hit her in the leg, causing her to stumble and her fireball to miss. It landed on the cheap carpet, which immediately burst into flames.

She raised her hand to strike again, and Jake yelled at her.

“Hey! Hot stuff!”

She turned, flicking her wrist towards him. Jake instinctively raised his arm to shield his face. Flames licked up the sleeve of his windbreaker and he yanked it off, tossing it in her direction.

“I liked that jacket!”

“That’s no concern of mine,” she hissed before summoning flames to race across the carpet and fly up around Jake, caging him in a ring of fire. She turned to Terry and Charles, who were frozen in terror.

Jake roared, a proper roar, and lunged through the flames at her, his momentum surprising her enough for him to knock her over. The look of fear and realisation on her face was priceless as he gripped her wrists despite the heat.

He turned to find Charles and Terry still standing there.

“What are you waiting for? Run!”

Instead Charles ran forward, pulling the hip bottle off his belt and emptying its contents on her face. She screamed, and he pulled Jake to his feet and ran.

“What was that?”

Charles, despite shaking in fear, pushed his shoulders back proudly. “I want to stay hydrated on cases, so I’m bringing my homemade five-in-one iced tea with me, and I figured she wouldn’t like liquid.”

Jake grinned. “You’re a genius, and that tea works on humans too, trust me.”

Terry was staring at Jake. “You’re not burnt.”

Jake felt guilt surging through him, “I should have told you – “

Then they heard an enraged scream from inside, and the door Terry had slammed shut was glowing red. Somewhere a smoke alarm was ringing shrilly.

“The stairs are too slow,” Jake mused, looking around then grinning as he saw a door to the roof. “Come on!”

“This is insane!” Terry yelled as Jake slammed the heavy door closed, cold wind whipping around them. “We’re stuck on a roof and there’s a demon fire lady trying to kill us! What the hell is going on?”

There was a muffled _whump_ of flames from below. The fire was spreading supernaturally quickly. Sirens were rapidly approaching. Jake ran to the roof’s edge.

“Sarge, Charles, I have an idea to get us unstuck off the rood, but you have to trust me.”

Jake transformed when they didn’t immediately protest and winced as Terry let out a high-pitched scream.

“It ate Peralta!”

“What? Terry, it’s me! That makes no sense.”

“How – “

“Charles, I’ll tell you later, both of you get on!”

They exchanged glances before scrambling onto Jake’s back.

“Here we go – “

Jake leapt off the roof just as the fire reached it.

And dropped like a stone.

His passengers yelled in terror as Jake thrust his wings down hard and soared upwards. They were airborne, they were good.

“Everyone good back there?”

“Terry is terrified!”

“Charles?”

“I’m okay.”

“Well, this is fun right?” Jake said cheerfully. “A free sight-seeing tour, how great is this?”

He lurched as a gust of wind hit him unexpectedly, and Terry shrieked and tightened his grip.

“Whoops, almost there.”

By the time Jake landed on the precinct’s roof, he was panting. Man, he was _not_ as fit as he thought. Charles tumbled off his back immediately, but Terry had to be coaxed to release his death-grip.

(If Jake ended up with awkward-to-explain bruises around his neck it was all Terry’s fault.)

“What the _hell_ Jake?” Terry whisper-yelled before collapsing heavily into the roof deck chair. “What just happened?”

“I want to know too,” Charles folded his arms. “If you’ve always been a secret dragon, how come I didn’t know about it? This is best friend material, I am _crushed_ Jake, _crushed_!”

“That’s what you’re focusing on?” Terry said, with an edge of hysteria.

“Guys, come on, it’s – “

“What is going on here?” Holt strode onto the roof, mug in hand. “It’s late why are you – “ He trailed off as he took in the scene before him, consisting of one dragon, one shell-shocked sergeant and one peeved detective.

“Ah. I see.”

“ _Holt_ knows?” Charles said.

“Now isn’t the time Boyle.” Jake sighed. “Captain, I can explain.”

“You will,” Holt said, “But first we need to get you inside without causing suspicion.”

 _Getting them inside without causing suspicion_ was soon revealed to mean getting Gina to trip the alarm, causing everyone to leave in record time.

Holt placed a hand on Jake’s shoulder as he shifted back to go inside.

“Peralta, if you are comfortable, I’ll call the rest of the squad for this debrief, if you are amenable and I haven’t overstepped.”

“No, I think you’re right.”

Holt nodded and went inside. Jake exhaled heavily, breath fogging in the night air in a parody of what he was. It was time to let the dragon out of the bag completely.

  
  


***

  
  


Jake fiddled with the edge of the too-small NYPD jumper he’d borrowed as he sat on the table in briefing room for everyone to file in. He might be mostly fireproof, but his clothes were not, and most of his jumper and shirt now had holes singed into them.

Terry was staring at him in a way that was starting to become uncomfortable and was squeezing a stress ball so hard it looked ready to pop at any moment. Amy gave him a concerned look and he tried to smile at her. Holt was the last to arrive and shut the door and blinds before he stood at Jake’s side and gave him a small nod.

“Well,” Jake fidgeted, “most of you already know about my _thang_ , so I guess I have to clear that up with the rest of you. I’m not human, I’m a dragon.”

“Is that all this is about?” Hitchcock asked.

Jake blinked in surprise. “Did you not hear what I just said?”

“We did.” Hitchcock said.

“Don’t worry about it, weirder things have happened.” Scully said.

“Um, thanks?”

“When were you going to tell the Sarge and me?” Charles asked, sounding distinctly hurt.

“I was working on it, I swear, it’s just a hard thing to come out and say, the others found out by accident and I planned Amy’s for ages, but I was going to tell you.”

Charles nodded. “It’s a lot to take in, but I’m your best friend and always will be.”

Jake smiled. “Thanks Charles.” He held out his arm for a fist bump, but Charles gave him a hug instead.

He looked at Terry, nerves building in his stomach again.

“It’s… a lot,” Terry repeated, “And it’s not how I imagined I’d be late to date night, and it’s _definitely_ the weirdest thing you’ve put me through.” Then he managed a shaky smile. “But you’re still you, and I guess I’ll just have to keep an eye out for you in the sky and on the ground.”

Jake beamed, the last bit of tension draining away.

“Now that we’ve all shared the emotions that needed to be shared,” Holt said, deadpan as always, “I think Peralta should fill us in on what happened.”

Jake relayed the night’s events, then steeled himself.

“Back in the day, people used to take things as trophies or as tools or ingredients. But it fell out of fashion and became a crime when we started living among humans. I didn’t think anyone still did it, but I was wrong.”

Understanding was dawning on Terry’s face. “What we found, those were body parts?”

Jake nodded. Rosa and Amy made disgusted faces.

“What of the victims?” Holt asked.

Jake swallowed. “Dead probably, or badly injured.”

Holt nodded. “We will listen out for unusual hospital admittances. I want you to keep a special eye out as you will be our main source of information here. With you with us, we have a chance to help those who otherwise would not be helped.”

Holt looked around the room. “Does anyone else have any magical talents they would like to share with us now?”

Gina snapped her fingers, frowned and snapped them again. A few small sparks danced on her fingertips.

“Damn Gina!” Terry exclaimed.

“Where did you learn to do that? You couldn’t do that when we were kids.” Jake said.

“Don’t worry, I’m just as human as you lot.” Gina drawled. “This is from an online course I’ve been dabbling in, couldn’t let you have all the fun.”

Rosa grinned. “Sweet, can you show me?”

“Of course girl.”

“Well, it’s nice to know I’m not the scariest thing in this precinct.” Jake said.

“Oh Jakey,” Gina said with a pitying glance, “You never were.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3, finally! I've had this vague idea for this chapter floating in my head for ages now, and you have no idea how happy I was to see Jake jump off an exploding roof in that trailer because of it.  
> I'd love to know what you think, and as always feel free to come say hi on Tumblr: @consultingzoologist


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